SET the clocks for an early rise if you want to see one of the flat season races of the year in the Japan Cup at 6.40am tomorrow. With JPY500 million to the winner, it has seven Group 1 winners in the line-up - including Equinox, the four-year-old colt who has topped the world’s rankings since this season.

The Japanese fillies’ Triple Crown winner Liberty Island, three-time Group 1 winner Titleholder, the 2022 Japanese Derby winner Do Deuce, four-year-old filly Stars On Earth who won two of last year’s fillies’ classics, the 2022 Japan Cup winner Vela Azul, and Panthalassa, with two Group 1 wins in Meydan and Riyadh, make up a star-studded home challenge.